This invention relates to swimming pools.
More particularly, the present invention relates to a pool cleaning system including a skimmer device and a vacuum system.
In a further and more specific aspect, the present invention relates to a valve for alternating pool water movement between different cleaning devices of a pool cleaning system.
A conventional swimming pool installation usually incorporates a recirculating system having a pump and a filter assembly located adjacent the pool for circulating and filtering the pool water. Typically included in this recirculating system is a skimming device adjacent the sidewall of the pool and, a main drain located on the floor of the pool. Water from the pool is drawn through the skimming device and the main drain by the pump, and forced through the filter assembly before being returned to the pool through a discharge outlet. The skimmer device removes the film of material and floating objects from the surface of the water while the main drain is adapted to collect sediment that sinks to the bottom of the pool. A small filter basket is usually provided in the system before the pump to intercept large debris picked up by the main drain or which has passed through the skimmer device.
Often, before the skimming device can remove all of the dirt and debris from the surface of the pool, the material will sink. The dirt and debris that sinks to the bottom of the pool collects on the floor and may not be pulled through the main drain. To remove this material, it must be swept toward the main drain, or vacuumed up as is commonly done. A vacuum generally consists of a hose having a first end coupled to a vacuum head and a second end coupled to the pump to provide suction. The second end is generally coupled to the pump via the skimmer device. Many skimmer devices are adapted to receive the second end of the hose directly, or by using an adapter. The material is sucked through the hose with the pool water, and forced through the filter assembly that removes the material.
Many pool owners find the necessity of vacuuming the pool a tedious task, best avoided at all costs. To this end, they hire services that maintain the pool or have installed special devices that will automatically clean the pool. These devices include special jets, which form water currents pushing dirt and debris toward the main drain and automatic vacuum devices. The automatic vacuum devices are similar to conventional vacuums, in that they include a vacuum head and a hose. The difference is that they continuously move about the pool floor by themselves, continually picking up dirt and debris. This greatly reduces the labor involved in keeping a pool clean. Automatic vacuums, however, present new problems.
In a properly maintained pool, the skimmer device will keep the surface of the pool clean, and remove large debris before it sinks. The skimmer device generally includes a strainer basket that collects the larger debris and prevents it from passing on to the filter assembly. The strainer basket can be easily emptied of the collected debris. In this manner, very little debris will pass through the system to the small strainer basket. This is desirable because as debris collects in the basket, the performance of the recirculating system is reduced. In a properly maintained system, the smaller basket needs to be cleaned infrequently. This is accomplished by turning the pump off, opening a scaled lid and removing the basket. The basket must then be replaced and the system resealed and started. During vacuuming, the strainer basket is removed from the skimmer device, and the second end of the hose is inserted into the skimmer device. The collected material goes directly to the filter assembly, with the small strainer basket in the line to remove any large debris. While this system works sufficiently well for its intended conventional use, problems occur when a continuous and automatic vacuum is employed.
In most pool cleaning systems, an automatic vacuum is generally coupled to the pump through the skimmer device, rendering the skimmer inoperative. In a particularly noteworthy pool cleaning system, the skimmer device and the automatic vacuum are constructed and arranged such that the swimming pool may be continuously vacuumed while the skimmer device and the main drain are also operating. With the vacuum and the skimmer device and the main drain operating simultaneously, tremendous and continuous strain is placed on the pump. As a result, a bigger pump usually must be employed, which significantly increases power consumption. Also, although simultaneous operation of the skimming device, main drain and vacuum can be desirable, it is typically unnecessary in providing a clean swimming pool.
Thus, there is a need for an improved pool cleaning system including a valve, which couples a skimmer device, a vacuum and a main drain of a pool installation to a pump, and that is responsive to sequential operation of the pump for moving between skimmer and main drain operation, and simultaneous operation of the skimmer, main drain and vacuum system. By toggling between these two modes of operation, a swimming pool is kept clean and the strain and wear and tear on the pump and the vacuum is significantly diminished.
Briefly, to achieve the desired objects of the instant invention in accordance with a preferred embodiment thereof, provided is valve system for use in a swimming pool installation including a swimming pool and a recirculating system having a skimmer device, a vacuum system and a pump. The pump is configured to cycle between inactive and active conditions. The valve system includes a housing defining a main chamber and a seat extending from the housing, which divides the main chamber into an upstream chamber which is coupled to the skimmer device and a downstream chamber which is coupled to the vacuum system and to the pump, and the coupling of the skimmer device and the vacuum system can be reversed. A piston having a seal is mounted in the upstream chamber for reciprocal movement in opposition to the seat. The seal opposes the seat and because the seal is part of the piston, reciprocal movement of the piston in reciprocal directions in opposition to the seat results in movement of the seal away from the seat and against the seat isolating the upstream chamber from the downstream chamber. A pawl is mounted to the piston for rotation. The pawl includes an end having first and second portions and an opposing end having third and fourth portions. First and second stops are supported by the housing adjacent the pawl, and a biasing element is provided for biasing the piston, and hence the seal, away from the seat.
The piston is responsive to a cyclical application and removal of water movement there across in a direction from the upstream chamber to the downstream chamber caused by the cyclical operation of the pump between inactive and active conditions so as to move in reciprocal directions, which causes the pawl to sequentially interact with the first and second stops and rotate or pitch sequentially in a single direction so as to cycle into and between first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eight, ninth and tenth positions. In the first position of the pawl, the second portion engages the first stop and the third portion registers with the second stop, the pump is in the inactive condition and the biasing element biases the seal away from the seat. In the second position of the pawl, the third and fourth portions engage the second stop and the first portion registers with the first stop, the pump is in the active condition, the bias of the biasing element is overcome by the water movement and the seal is located at a fixed position away from the seat, which permits the pump to pull water from the swimming pool through the skimmer device and the vacuum system. In the third position of the pawl, the first portion engages the first stop and the fourth portion registers with the second stop, the pump is in the inactive condition and the biasing element biases the seal away from the seat. In the fourth position of the pawl, the fourth portion engages the second stop, the pump is in the active condition, the bias of the biasing element is overcome by the water movement and the seal is positioned away from the seat. In the fifth position of the pawl, the third portion registers with the first stop, the pump is in the active condition, the bias of the biasing element is overcome by the water movement and the seal is positioned against the seat isolating the upstream chamber from the downstream chamber, which permits the pump to pull water from the swimming pool only through the vacuum system.
In the sixth position of the pawl, the third portion engages the first stop and the second portion registers with the second stop, the pump is in the inactive condition and the biasing element biases the seal away from the seat. In the seventh position of the pawl, the first and second portions engage the second stop and the fourth portion registers with the first stop, the pump is in the active condition, the bias of the biasing element is overcome by the water movement and the seal is located at fixed position away from the seat. In the eighth position of the pawl, the fourth portion engages the first stop and the first portion registers with the second stop, the pump is in the inactive condition and the biasing element biases the seal away from the seat. In the ninth position of the pawl, the first portion engages the second stop, the pump is in the active condition, the bias of the biasing element is overcome by the water movement and the seal is positioned away from the seat. In the tenth position of the pawl, the second portion registers with the first stop, the pump is in the active condition, the bias of the biasing element is overcome by the water movement and the seal is positioned against the seat isolating the upstream chamber from the downstream chamber. This completes the entire cycle of movement of the pawl in response to reciprocal movement of piston and is repeated as the pump continues to operate between its inactive and active conditions for facilitating a cycling between a simultaneous operation of the skimmer device and the vacuum system and a single operation of only the vacuum system, and this is, of course, reversed if the coupling of the skimmer device and the vacuum system to the housing is reversed.
In a preferred embodiment, the biasing element is at least one compression spring having an end coupled to the piston and another end coupled to the housing. The piston is mounted for reciprocal movement to an extension of the housing that depends from a removably attached lid. The extension is reciprocally adjustable in opposition to the seat by way of an adjustment member, which includes an elongate element having a head secured to the lid for rotation and a threaded segment threadably associated with a complemental threaded segment of the extension. The first and second stops are preferably carried by the extension.
The seal is an annular body having an annular sealing surface that is capable of sealing substantially against the seat for preventing water from flowing from the upstream chamber to the downstream chamber. A relief valve assembly is associated with the seal and is movable between a closed condition to an open condition for allowing water to pass from the upstream chamber to the downstream chamber when the seal is sealed against the seat and when the pressure in the downstream chamber becomes insufficient to keep the relief valve assembly closed. The relief valve assembly includes openings extending through the seal, a plate positioned against the seal closing the openings in a direction facing the downstream chamber, and a biasing assembly for biasing the plate against the seal. The biasing assembly includes an element or extension extending away from the seal toward the second chamber, and a compression spring captured between a head of the extension and the plate.